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Rochester Tops Toronto to Improve to 3-0

from Press Release

The back-to-back NLL champion Rochester Knighthawks (3-0)
started the season with three wins for the first time
since 1998 by beating the Toronto Rock (1-2) at
home by a score of 12­-8 before a crowd of 8,136
at Blue Cross Arena on Saturday night.

The NLL’s reigning
Goaltender of the Year, Matt Vinc, only needed to make 36 saves in
net. It was the defensive unit in front of him that did a better
than usual job breaking up passes and blocking shooting
lanes.

“I’m pretty
spoiled back there with not only the system that we play –
it’s great for a goalie – and the guys that are out in
front of me,” Vinc said. “They do whatever it takes,
whether it’s blocking shots, laying on the carpet, doing
whatever it is. They play great team defense game in and game
out.”

“They play a great team
defense, there’s no question about it, no matter what five
guys they have on the floor,” Rock head coach John Lovell
said. “It’s difficult just to get easy shots on them.
But I liked some of the looks we had. We just didn’t have
anything fall for us.”

In addition to forcing a
season-high 13 turnovers, the Knighthawks’ defense limited
the Rock (1-2) to only three 5-on-5 goals. Of the remaining five
goals Toronto scored, three came in transition, one on a power
play, and the other with an extra attacker on a delayed
penalty.

“That’s the one
thing that what we got to do, limit the 5-on-5’s,”
Rochester head coach Mike Hasen said. “Tonight, we were able
to do that.”

“You really got to make
a good shot to beat him [Vinc], and that’s been the case for
a long time,” Toronto captain Colin Doyle said. “We
can’t expect to come in here and hang 16 on him. It probably
won’t happen.”

With a smothering effort on
the back end, the Knighthawks were able to produce five unanswered
goals bridging the second and third quarters, turning a tie into an
8-3 advantage.

Leading 5-3 after halftime,
Cory Vitarelli scored back-to-back goals to begin the third
quarter. His second goal, scored on the power play, was one of a
few quick-stick goals that, with a pretty pass, caught Rock
netminder Nick Rose out of position.

“We know
‘Rosie’ likes to challenge the shooter, and when he
challenges the shooter, he’s susceptible to the back
side,” Hasen explained. “It’s something we were
trying to do. Early, it wasn’t quite clicking, but then we
finally got a few.”

“We’re a good
enough offense when we’re in form and everyone is touching
the ball,” said Vitarelli, who suited up for his first game
of the season. “Nick Rose is a good goalie. That’s what
we want to do, get him moving and out of the net. It worked a
couple of times for us tonight.”

Garrett Billings thought he
cut the Rochester lead to 7-4 as he tip-toed the crease and
deposited the ball past Vinc 5:42 into the third. A successful
challenge by Hasen overturned the ruling on the field, and 29
seconds later, Cody Jamieson put his team up 8-3.

“I know he shot and he
was in the crease, but his foot also came up and he stepped out of
it,” Lovell said. “It was a close one; I guess it was
in the net before he stepped out of it.”

“They go boom, boom,
boom at the other end, and all of a sudden you’re down
8-3,” Doyle said. “Good teams will do that to you if
you don’t capitalize on your chances. The ones that we did
have, which were scarce, we didn’t capitalize
on.”

Rob Hellyer ended
Toronto’s nearly 22-minute scoreless drought when he scored
on a delayed penalty call at 11:33 in the third. Jamieson responded
just over a minute later to regain a five-goal lead entering the
final quarter.

A tremendous individual effort
by Stephen Keogh gave the Knighthawks their largest lead 1:02 into
the fourth quarter. He outhustled a Rock defender to a loose ball
after a blocked shot. Cutting down the middle of the floor, Keogh
took a pass from Dan Dawson and went around-the-world to beat Rose.
The highlight-reel goal extended the cushion to 10-4.

Stephan Leblanc, Doyle and
Billings each scored once to reduce the deficit to three. For a
moment, it was an eerily familiar scene. In the first two games,
the Knighthawks allowed the opposition to go on second-half runs,
putting both games in jeopardy. Jamieson, however, ended the lapse
with his fourth goal of the contest 24 seconds after
Billings’ tally.

“Runs are bound to
happen, its how you stop them,” Brad Self said. “We
didn’t change our game plan; we didn’t switch from the
plan, they just found the net on a couple of shots. Then we got a
big goal from ‘Jammer,’ and that was
huge.”

Hellyer scored his second only
40 seconds later, but Mac Allen dumped his first goal since April
9, 2011 as the quarter drew to a close.